The First Snow
by hPluVr77
Summary: The first snow fall always has a good effect on Loralai and Rory Gilmore. Stars Hollow is filled with the same quirks, and Yale for Rory is just as normal as can be. Love comes into play for Loralai and Rory, but who exactly will capture their hearts?
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Tequila or Vodka?**

Loralai Gilmore felt as if her head was about to explode. For a crazy moment, she thought she'd found all of the missing anvils. They seemed to have decided to reappear inside her head, each dropping one at a time. "Ugh," she murmured and flopped on her back, her hand slapping something on her left. It was smooth, and a bit hairy—like an arm. "That's not… the cow, and the mooing of the alarm clock…"

Loralai's grumbles were incoherent, and it seemed as if the anvils were falling harder against her cranium. With an annoyed groan she leaned against her elbow and nearly screamed at the sight of a naked man lying beside her—and it was not just any naked man. It was a Luke shaped naked man. With shocked and shaking fingers, she shook him awake.

"You," Loralai said, her eyes wide open. "You. Wake up now."

Luke quickly jerked awake and looked around him. When his eyes focused and locked with the woman next to him, something in his head clicked. There he was—Luke Danes, owner of the local diner in Stars Hollow—and he was in Loralai Gilmore's bed. Not to mention he had an excruciating headache and no pants.

He kept seeing flashes of vodka and hearing mumblings about the first snow falling. "What the hell is going on?" he half shouted, only to be stopped by the searing pain in his temples. Oh, yeah. He was definitely hung over.

"You. Me. Naked. Not working," Loralai rambled.

"Make sense, please," Luke said back, rubbing his head and scanning the room for his pants. "Why am I here?"

"Why are you here, Luke? That's a good question!"

"I don't know, I was asking you! Ow, damnit!"

"Your head?"

"My temples feel like they're gonna crack open."

What was going on? Was Loralai having another one of her dreams? "There aren't a thousand alarm clocks in the room, and I don't have a sexy night gown on!" She closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh, god—please don't tell me I'm pregnant!"

Luke stared blankly at her. "I'm not even going to ask," he stated slowly.

"My head won't stop banging, Luke, make it stop banging and the squirrels are out there on the tree branch, just staring at me…"  
"Loralai," Luke started, "I think that banging is the door."

For a moment, Loralai looked confused—but in the next she was leaping out of the bed and throwing aside clothes on the floor. "Rory's home."

"Rory?"

"Yes, my namesake, she's home!" Loralai ran to her closet and found her plaid robe. "You stay here."

"Rory's home?" Luke sat down on the bed in a confused nature. "Why am I here?"

"Luke!" Loralai shouted and then pulled back due to her brain almost hemmorhaging. "Do. Not. Move."

Loralai scrambled down the stairs and to the door, all the while trying to tie her robe and compose her thoughts. She couldn't seem to concentrate with the thought that she had a naked Luke sitting on her bed upstairs.

Undoing the locks and throwing open the door, she did her best to put on a bright smile. "Hi, babe!" she chirped, flinching at the loudness of her own voice.

Rory Gilmore stood on the threshold of her childhood home and smiled at her mother, who seemed to be quite frazzled about something. "You look tired," Rory stated. Loralai forced a laugh and leaned on the edging of the door frame.

"I'm fine."

"Mom, you haven't had any coffee this morning, have you?"

"You know me too well, child. I need my coffee. Thouest will fetch it for thy mother?"

Rory grinned and entered the house, followed by a nervous Loralai. "Do you want me to make you some? I can tell you all about Paris and her apparent new beau."

"I'm fine," Loralai repeated and ushered Rory into a chair by the refridgerator (the only thing she could think of doing). "I have a bit of a headache."

"Hangover?"  
"Never."  
"Tequila or Vodka?"

"Rory, for heavens sake," Loralai said in her best southern belle voice, "you know drinking is for sinners."

"So is having children out of wedlock, but that didn't stop you," Rory grinned as Loralai pretended to be hurt. They spent several moments bantering about sin, Loralai shooting off several Pope references. Then there was a thump.

"What was that?" Rory asked, raising out of her chair. Loralai panicked. Rory could NOT find out about her drunken night with Luke.

"I'm sure it was nothing," she reasoned, blocking Rory's path to the stairs. "Look, you're right. I'm just a tad bit hungover."

Rory grinned smugly. "I thought so."

"Could you do Mommy a huge, huge, favor, though?"

"Is it illegal?"  
"Only in thirteen states. Go and get Mommy some hangover food?"

Rory nodded and grabbed her purse. "Sure, I'll just go to Luke's and—"

"NO!" Loralai shouted and immediately winced. "It's… Mexican Fiesta Ole' time at Al's… and… I need a burrito."

"Um… okay," Rory said and maneuvered her way past to the front door.

"And bring me some Advil!" Loralai added before the door shut. With an aggravated groan, she went back upstairs and to her bedroom. "What part of don't move do you not understand?" she asked a grizzly looking Luke.

"Well, I had to find my pants. I don't even wanna know how they ended up under your pillow."

"Ooh, dirty," Loralai kidded, feeling the pain in her head subside slightly. "It's all part of the Siamese mating ritual."

"Look, just don't say anything right now, okay?" Luke found his every day plaid shirt on the floor and threw it on, while moving around in an attempt to find his shoes. Loralai sat down on the edge of the bed and pursed her lips together as if to force the words to go back down her esophagus.

It didn't work. "Aww, you're wearing plaid—I'm wearing plaid—every lumber jack's nightmare."

Luke shot her a glare as he fitted his tennis shoes over his bare feet. "I can't find my socks," he told her.

"Probably hidden somewhere with my bra," Loralai chimed in.

"That's wonderful news."

Loralai paused for a moment before opening her window. "Climb on out, Lumber Jack man," she said.

"You're out of your mind."

"Luke, we don't have any options," Loralai countered. "If you go out the front door, Babette'll see you through her so-called closed curtains, and she'll ring Miss Patty up and tell her that you left my house—and that will be while she's teaching Kirk to dance to the Horah—and he'll inform Taylor, and his candy shop is right next to you, and I'm pretty sure you don't want him making his 'you non-christian' face at you through the big hunk of glass separating him from your diner."

Luke stared at the window, contemplating what she'd just said. And finally, as if giving up all hope, he warned, "I better not fall."

"Well, the ground is there, so it'll break wherever you land," Loralai kidded as Luke tried to squeeze through the window. She suppressed a grin.

"I just got a sudden image of the Brawny paper towel guy," she laughed. Luke gave her a dirty look and made his way down carefully. "Oh, my Spiderman," Loralai cooed.

When Luke reached the bottom he seemed to be struggling on whether or not to say something. "Um… if you wanna come by the diner later… we could talk… you know, about…" He wasn't good at expressing his thoughts on matters like the one at hand, so he just made a gesture with his hands. Loralai nodded somberly.

"Yeah, we'll talk."

Rory came back about a half hour later with four bags of Mexican Fiesta Ole' food from Al's (and Advil for her hungover Mommy). Loralai scarfed down her portion in record time and hurriedly got herself dressed and ready to go to the Dragonfly Inn.

"Are you done using my hair dryer?" Rory called from downstairs.

"Perhaps," came Loralai's squeaky voice, "but you must find your way to Mount Doom, young Rodo."

"Rodo?"

"Frodo and Rory. C'mon, work with me." Loralai lept downstairs with the hair product in hand. "I've gotta run, sweetie. Michel's called my cell at least twenty times with complaints about Sookie knocking people out with various cooking items."

"At least she hasn't sent anyone to the hospital."

"_Yet."_ Loralai grinned, shoving a foot into a suade boot and running out the door. She spent the whole day wondering what she was going to say to Luke when she saw him. _'Sorry I got you all drunk and sexed up'_ didn't seem to cut it. Why had they gotten drunk in the first place? It was sad that she couldn't even remember that.

Sookie could tell something was up but didn't ask, making Loralai thank her lucky stars. The hours became later, and finally it was around eleven in the evening. She asked Michel to cover for her and she headed off to Luke's diner. The sound of the bell chiming above the door nearly sent her spiraling into a table full of condiments. "Damn it," Loralai shouted, thanking God that nobody was around to see or hear her.

"Loralai?"

Damn it. "Yes, that was me," she said cheerfully, "the one almost wiping out an entire ecosystem of parmesan cheese and red pepper."

"Murderer," Luke said and came out from the door leading up to his apartment. He smiled in his normal Luke-ish way. "You alright?"

Loralai nodded, feeling completely stupid. "Other than having to run two of my kitchen staff to the hospital because of Sookie, I'm doing fabulous."

Luke watched as she sashayed to the counter and sat down. Like habit, he poured her a large cup of coffee, and for a moment there was a seemingly never ending silence. Loralai stared at her coffee and Luke stared at the Danish container.

"So—" Loralai started, but stopped when she felt Luke lay his hand over her own. "Um… the best things have always happened to me on the first snow," she grinned, letting her blue eyes meet his green ones.


	2. Chapter One

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this… and I credit AS-P… le tear and I don't own Spiderman or the Brawny Paper towel guy… cries WHY DO YOU KEEP REMINDING ME…**_

**A/N: Okay, so I'm Aubree, and this is a fanfic written by me and my friend Brandie. It's our first Gilmore fic, and I'm writing all this here because I forgot to for the prologue. I want you guys to guess who Rory is gonna end up with because it might not be who you think.. :D Oh, yes. :D I love mysteries. So, read and review! 333 Aubree**

**Chapter One: Eyes of the Town and Gabriel's Request**

_Two Days Later_

Rory Gilmore had the entire day to herself. Winter break from Yale wasn't nearly as interesting in Stars Hollow—other than everyone practicing for the Christmas pageant. Taylor had volunteered Rory for the role of Mary, but she had turned it down. Why couldn't somebody else get the opportunity—no, the prestigious honor of sitting at the edge of the manger for an hour and a half while Kirk delivered his speech as the angel Gabriel?

Apparently, Taylor had let the whole town in on Rory's rejection, and now she was the enemy. Loralai had warned her not to get on Taylor's bad side—especially during the Christmas season, but Rory stupidly forgot. Now she was receiving glares from random town folks, and people were even talking about taking her title as "Town Princess" away. Rory didn't mind—but could she help the fact that she didn't want to freeze her 'kahunas' off this Christmas?

The only person Rory was sure would not hate her was Lane. She adjusted her scarf around her neck and headed to Kim's Antiques. The bell on the door rang to signal her entrance, and she heard a familiar voice calling from a distance.

"Welcome to Kim's Antiques—everything half off."

Rory smiled. "Mrs. Kim? It's me, Rory Gilmore."

A shuffle of feet scuffed along the wood flooring and in a second, Mrs. Kim walked into the room. "Oh," she said a bit stiffly, "hello."

"Um, hi. Do you know where Lane is?"

An uncomfortable silence was forced between the two. Rory felt extremely idiotic—how could she have forgotten that Lane and Mrs. Kim were fighting? How could she have forgotten that Lane had moved out?_ Maybe I was just wishfully thinking that they'd made up or something, _Rory thought to herself.

"Lane does not live here anymore," Mrs. Kim explained. "I thought you knew that. You helped hide her in your school."

"Mrs. Kim, Lane was scared—"

"She lives in an apartment with hairy, unsanitary girls. Give her these," she handed Rory a stack of Lane's mail. "Thank you and good bye."

"Um, okay then," Rory stared as Mrs. Kim left for the kitchen. She wasn't sure of what to make of the conversation, so she shrugged her shoulders and started the cold trek to Lane's new apartment. On the way Rory tried to ignore all of the glares of the town—until a pair of light brown eyes caught her attention. Dean's eyes. Talk about going from one awkward situation to another, Rory thought as she stopped about four feet away from him. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hey," Dean replied and shoved his hands into his front pockets. "You're back in Stars Hollow."

"Yeah, just for winter break. I wouldn't miss the debut of the new Mary in the Christmas pageant for the world."

Dean smiled thoughtfully. "I thought I heard Taylor fuming about you resigning from your post as "Town Princess" and the reigning Mary."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Leave it to Taylor to involuntarily volunteer you for something."

Silence loomed in the air like an infectious disease. Things were so uncomfortable between them—and Rory definitely didn't want it to stay that way. "So… how's Lindsey?" she asked in an effort to break the ice.

"Divorced."  
"Dean, are you serious?"

Dean seemed completely unphased by Rory's reaction. "I told you," he responded quietly, "that it wasn't going to last."

Rory crossed her arms and looked at her fingernails. "I'm sorry," she finally stated.

"Really?"

"It's not fair to you. You should be happy. You deserve to be happy."

"Don't worry about me, Rory," Dean said and grinned. "I'll live."

"Let's hope so," kidded Rory. "I would hate to have to come back to Stars Hollow for a funeral and find out it was yours."

"It would be quite a surprise, though."

"Not in the jack-in-the-box sense." Rory inhaled a deep breath and let it out slowly, watching the vapors float in the air. "I should—"

"Yeah, I've got—"

"And Lane's expecting me—"

"The Dragonfly calls—"

"So I'll see you?" Rory asked in a hopeful manner. Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you." He walked off down the sidewalk, leaving Rory with a very confused train of thought.

"You went and saw Mrs. Kim?"

Lane Kim sat on the floor of her apartment with Rory, listening to her tale as to why she was late for the gossip and friend-get-together time. "I'd forgotten you'd moved," Rory said honestly. "Mrs. Kim told me that you live with hairy, unsanitary girls and that I should give you these." She pulled out the small stack of mail from her coat pocket and set it in front of Lane. "She seemed alright."

"Oh, Mrs. Kim is NOT alright, Rory," Lane started. "You, of all people, should know this. She's evil, and the worst part about it is that she hides it from everyone else."

"She misses you," Rory told her best friend.

"Yeah, and replacing me with a foreign exchange student from Seoul is a great example of how much." Lane stood up and went to the carpet in the middle of the kitchen. She lifted it up and moved the loose floorboard to reveal assorted chips, candy bars, and a couple of doughnuts. "Want something?"

Rory shook her head. "I'm fine," she told her and rearranged herself so she was sitting Indian-style. "I ran into Dean earlier, too."

"And?" Lane prompted.

"And why didn't you tell me that he and Lindsey got divorced?"

Lane frowned. "I must've forgotten. I'm sorry—there's been a lot going on as far as the band, and I really swear I told you."

"Well, you didn't. I felt so moronic, Lane. He looked so sad about it."

"Dean DID get divorced. He didn't exactly go to Mardi Gras, you know."

"Lindsey wasn't good for him, anyways. She never did anything but whine and complain about how little money they had, but she never once thought of applying for a job herself. No, she left it all up to Dean."

"I'm not saying she wasn't a jerk."

"So me sleeping with him wasn't a bad move, right?" Rory scowled to herself and thought back on that night. It had been a complete accident—but she and Dean had gone too far. "I mean, he DID get the divorce from her, right?"

"Right," Lane agreed.

"But I shouldn't even care because I'm with Logan—but…" Rory's voice trailed off and she bit her bottom lip.

"What?"

"I'm not with him anymore."

Lane dropped her bag of chips. "You and Logan split up?"

Rory nodded. "Things have been so hectic these past two days that I haven't even thought about it."

"What happened?"

"What do you mean, what happened, Lane? We broke up. Logan didn't want to be in a serious relationship anymore, and we had a fight, and I threw a picture frame at his head, and I left."

Lane stared at Rory in disbelief. "Logan did that? Rory, he's not worth it if he said he didn't want to be in a serious relationship. That's stupid. And besides, you're worth five billion of him and I'm sure that he's going through a crisis. Didn't you say his dad was a bit of a nut case?"

Rory nodded, her face growing hot. "It has nothing to do with him, Lane," she said matter-of-factly. "Logan and I aren't a couple anymore because we grew apart."

"Have you told Loralai?"

"No."  
"Why not? You know Loralai would want to know if you and Logan weren't a couple anymore."

"I just haven't gotten around to telling her. Don't worry, Lane. I'll get to it, I promise."

Feeling her stomach grumble angrily, Rory decided that lunch at Luke's was exactly what she needed. Lane didn't have anything else to do, so she offered to come with and Rory (of course) said yes. The two made their way down the familiar path to the diner, chatting about anything and everything having to do with Lane's band.

Rory spotted her mother inside the diner at the table near the door and pushed open the entrance. "How'd I know you'd be here?" she asked and sat down next to her, Lane following.

Loralai grinned and set down what was probably her sixth cup of coffee that day. "Rory, you are my off spring. You HAVE to know these things." She looked at Lane and took another sip of coffee. "Hey there," she said.

"Hi," Lane responded.

"Will you all stop conversing and order?"

Luke had walked over and scratched his head. "I have other customers, you know."

"But we're your favorites," Loralai said and batted her eyelashes in a Scarlet O'Hara manner. "Admit it, Lumberjack."

Luke scowled and blushed ever so slightly—but only to where Loralai could tell. "Order. You've had too much coffee already."

Rory and Lane exchanged smiles and they both ordered a large plate of chili cheese fries to share.

"You're killing your intestines, I hope you know that," Luke warned and headed to the back. Lane rolled her eyes.

"I'm pretty sure he's never NOT said that to us when we've ordered that," she said.

Rory nodded. "By the way, when do you work next?"

"Tomorrow," responded Lane. "I told Luke I wanted today off so I could spend time with you and Loralai—well, and I need to talk to Zack and Brian."

"Sounds serious," Loralai said, coming into the conversation. "What kind of talk are we talking about?"

Lane laughed. "Not THAT talk. We just need to figure out what our new set is going to consist of. Nothing serious."

"If you're sure, just… oh… wow…"

Loralai's mouth opened as she stared at the now open door to the diner. Kirk had just walked in, wearing a blonde wig, a white bed sheet tied up like a robe, and angel wings. It was certainly a site that the three girls never expected to see. "Nice… outfit, Kirk," Loralai sputtered.

Kirk smirked and puffed out his chest. "Why, I send you my kindest regards, Loralai," he started loudly. "As the Angel of the Lord, I come bearing good news."

"You're leaving, then?" Luke asked in an aggravated tone, coming over and glaring at Kirk. "That sounds like good news to me."

Kirk held his arms up majestically, making his wings go up. "Lucas, it is alright. You do not have to put up such fronts. Do not be afraid, for I come to you bearing tidings of great joy."

Rory quirked an eyebrow. "So I take it you're gonna be Gabriel again this year in the pageant?"

Kirk nodded as if it were the most important job in the world. "Taylor trusts me with the pivotal role—and UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE, I took it as a sign of deep respect."

"Rory doesn't have to be Mary in the pageant," Loralai defended. "I think this town is insane for thinking she has nothing better to do but be the mother of Jesus."

Kirk gasped, taking a step back. "I feel as though I do not even know you, Loralai. How can you say that?"

"She said it," Luke interjected, "now leave."

"Lucas, as Gabriel, I—"

"We've heard the speech before. I have no time to serve God's messengers."

"That is no way to treat—"

"Look, if you don't fly out the door right now, I'll rip your lousy wings off."

Lane let out a giggle. It was always entertaining to watch Luke threaten Kirk. "Fair enough," the wannabe angel said and quickly exited. Loralai chuckled and applauded.

"That was classic theatre," she said and sent a glance at Luke.

"I'll get your fries," he immediately said and headed into the kitchen again, yelling at Caesar to hurry up.

"That was fairly entertaining," Rory admitted and sat back in her chair. "I don't think I've been called Mary so many times in one day except when I was at Chilton."

Lane sighed, remembering Rory's hard time adjusting to her new high school, when Tristen DuGrey and Paris would constantly call her 'Mary'.

"Taylor's certainly done a thorough job of alienating the town against you."

"Fries," Luke said and set down the plat in the middle of their table. Loralai looked up and held her mug out.

"More coffee?" she pleaded.

"No."

Rory laughed.

"Luke, please, PLEASE give me more coffee."

"You've had your dosage for today."

"Luke, don't make me sing the Spiderman theme song." Loralai started whistling and grinned from ear to ear. Luke frowned.

"You owe me," he grumbled and snatched the cup.

"Gracias," Loralai thanked and turned back to her daughter and Lane. "I still haven't lost my touch."

"So I see," Rory complimented, staring at Loralai. Something was different about her mother, and she couldn't pinpoint what. "But why was Luke scared of you singing the Spiderman theme song?"

"No reason," Loralai said shortly.

"Okay then…" Rory cast a look at Lane, who shrugged. Talk about awkward. She reached for a chili cheese fry and smiled.

The silence between the three lasted about five seconds before Rory's phone went off.

"Out," Luke said and pointed to the door as he came and handed Loralai her coffee.

"Sorry, Luke," Rory apologized. Loralai took a swig of her drink, sensing something wrong as her kid just stared at the ringing phone.

"Who is it?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "Please tell me it's not Emily, because I cannot deal with her nagging right now."

"It's nobody," replied Rory, but the name that flashed on the screen of her cell phone said it all.

Logan.


End file.
